


Well I Didn't Mean to Do It, But There's No Escaping Your Love

by magequisition



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Date, Fluff, Nicknames
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-11
Updated: 2015-02-11
Packaged: 2018-03-11 15:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3330680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magequisition/pseuds/magequisition
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day, the same grumpy girl comes into the campus coffee shop.<br/>Every day, Kili can't take his eyes off of her.<br/>Today, he's going to see if he can do something about it. </p><p>Tee doesn't know anything about this. But she's about to find out just how quickly her world can be turned upside down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Well I Didn't Mean to Do It, But There's No Escaping Your Love

                “Good morning, beautiful!” came the familiar, cheerful voice behind the counter.

                Tee was not in the mood for cheerful.

                “Coffee, Kili. Just coffee. Now,” she said in response. He grinned at her, unfazed by her usual grumpiness and slid the already filled paper cup across the counter.

                “Just how you like it,” he said with a wink. “Midterms going okay?”

                She glowered over the rim of her cup as she took a sip. “You’re only spared because of your brilliant coffee, I hope you know that,” she grumbled. “Midterms suck and I suck and I can’t do anything with this stupid degree anyway. I give up, I’m running away to live in the woods.”

                “Hey now, it can’t be that bad,” Kili said, jumping up to sit on the counter after glancing around to ensure the shop was otherwise empty.

                Tee took another sip of her coffee. “I don’t know,” she said, dropping her eyes to the floor. “It just seems pointless and I’m so sick of the ‘what are you going to do with _that_ degree’ interrogation I’m always getting. She let out a sigh, then turned towards the door. “I should get back to the library. Thanks for the coffee,” she said over her shoulder. She’d just put her hand on the oor handle when she felt a gentle hand on her elbow.

                “Tee, wait,” Kili said behind her. She whirled around. “Let me take you out for dinner tonight.”

                She stared at him in disbelief. “Did you, um, miss the part where I’m going to fail everything?”

                “Except that I know you’re exaggerating. And I know that you’ve been in my shop every day since the first day of term and you won’t even tell me what Tee is short for even though I’m absolutely certain that’s not your name. And I know you’re probably the most beautiful girl who’s ever set foot in my shop and that your grumpy face makes being here by six a.m. worth it,” his smile widened. “And I kind of think, maybe, that you might actually be interested in going out with me.” She stared at him for a minute and was just opening her mouth to answer when a voice sounded from outside the shop, just sneaking in through the cracked open door.

                “Tee, c’mon. Gotta run. Come get your stuff from my car.”

                She broke their gazes and saw her brother standing outside. She turned back to Kili, her heart sinking.

                “I’ll try to return later,” she said, turning away again and walking out of the shop. When she and her brother turned towards the parking lot, she chanced a glance back to the shop and saw Kili watching her, a hand raised in a silent goodbye.

*****

                “What were you and that barista talking about, anyway? I don’t like the way he looks at you,” her brother said as they reached his car.

                “What, like I’m an actual girl?” she said, rolling her eyes. “And it’s not really any of your business what we were talking about, but thanks.”

                “Tee, you’re in there every day. He’s going to get the wrong idea if you aren’t careful.”

                Tee grabbed her things out of the trunk of the car. “Or maybe he’s going to get the right idea,” she said, an uncharacteristic moment of confidence against her older brother. She shut the trunk and turned away from him. “I’ll see you at home later,” she said, not turning towards him again. As she walked away, she tried to combat the smile that was forcing its way across her face.

 

*****

                Tee sat at a table in the library with a line of sight to the coffee shop, drumming her pen nervously on the table and thanking whatever gods might exist that the coffee shop was just off the “noisy” section of the library so she wasn’t getting any dirty looks for doing so.

                _You know he’s in there. You know he’s interested. Get up and tell him you’ll go tonight._

                She remained rooted in place in her chair.

                She stayed there, textbooks open in front of her without a single coherent sentence entering her head for three hours, glancing at the books and occasionally flipping a page while taking in no information and staring primarily at the head of curly dark hair that would occasionally pop up in the window between the shop and the library. When the door would open she could hear him laugh and it was infectious; her smile was instantaneous. Yet still she couldn’t bring herself to gather her things and go over there to accept his offer. Groaning, she dropped her head onto her folded arms on the table before leaving her things to go to the bathroom. Perhaps, she thought, splashing some cold water on her face would help her to focus on a decision.

                Her hopes were unfounded. She returned from the bathroom a few minutes later still fighting against her desire to go to see Kili, and significantly colder for the dampness on her face. When she sat down, however, there was a small folded piece of paper on her binder.

                _Peek-a-boo,_ it said. _Yeah, I see you pretending to study. Now, it looked like you had something to say earlier before we were so rudely interrupted. I kinda think I know what it was. If I’m right, just wait there. The shop closes at 6 and I’ll be out by 6:10. I’ll meet you at your table. If I’m wrong, make sure you’re gone by then and I’ll know. Don’t let that stop you from coming in tomorrow morning, though – I can handle a no and your coffee will be ready as ever._

_I do hope I’m not wrong, though._

_-K_

                Tauriel bit back a smile as her stomach flipped incessantly, and she glanced up just in time to see a cheeky grin turning away from the window. An uncharacteristic giggle burst out of her, and she clenched her teeth together to try and stop it as she glanced at the time.

                5:45.

                Her stomach flipped again, harder this time. She took a deep breath and began to shove her things into her backpack.

*****

                Twenty minutes later, a shadow passed over where she sat fiddling with her phone. She glanced up to see Kili standing in front of her table.

                “Hey,” he said.

                “Hi,” she replied, much quieter than her voice usually was.

                “So you’re still here,” he said.

                “Looks like it,” she said.

                “So…” he started.

                “Oh, stop,” she said finally, laughing. “Yes. Okay. You’re right. Come on. Let’s go.” She stood up and came around the table to stand beside him, marveling at just how much shorter than her he was (it wasn’t really noticeable behind the raised counter). Somehow, she found she didn’t mind when his broad smile was beaming up at her.

                “Are you allergic to anything?” he asked as they left the library. “Because I know this place, and it’s really great, but if you want something specific we can always go somewhere else.”

                Tee shook her head. “I’m not picky.”

                “Great. C’mon, my car’s just over here,” Kili said, gesturing towards the closest parking lot to where the library was. Tee paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before following him.

*****

                The restaurant, a small family-style place with lots of booths and eclectic décor, wasn’t far, and they were seated quickly by a waitress who seemed very familiar with Kili.

                “C’mon, let’s go!” he said enthusiastically as they followed her.

                “Relax. I’m coming,” Tee said with a grin. His enthusiasm was contagious, and far more quickly than she preferred she could feel her defences coming down. She knew she’d have to watch herself around him. They were seated at a quiet booth towards the back of the restaurant, menus placed in front of them with a promise that the waitress would be back soon. Kili grinned and waved as she walked away.

                “Do you come here often?” Tee asked. “You seem to know, well, her at least, quite well.”

                Kili nodded. “My brother’s the head chef here, so yeah, I come by to harass him when I can. Food runs in the family, I guess.”

                “You’re such a sweet brother,” she teased lightly.

                “You’ll notice he’s not likely to come drag me away, at least,” Kili said, his face dropping instantly as he regretted his choice in words. “Uh, I’m sorry. That was…not nice. I really shouldn’t have said that.”

                Tee shook her head. “It’s fine. You’re not wrong. About my brother, anyways, I don’t know about yours. I don’t know why he’s so protective of me – I’m not exactly a child anymore.”

                Kili shrugged. “He loves you. It’s easy to do, I’m sure.” The last part sounded stilted, as though he’d forced himself to add it on. Tee stared down at her menu intently, grateful for the interruption when the waitress returned.

                Their food came quickly, and they busied themselves eating in a companionable silence for a few minutes before either of them spoke again.

                “So…what _is_ Tee short for, anyway?” Kili asked slowly. “I mean, it can’t be that bad.”

                Tee blushed. “I hate my name,” she said quietly.

                “I assumed. But that’s not what I asked,” Kili said, gently prodding her.

                She sighed. “Tauriel,” she said softly.

                Kili’s eyes widened as he stared at her, watching a blush spread over her cheeks. “That’s a beautiful name,” he said. “Why would you go by something as plain as Tee?”

                She shrugged. “Less of a torment target in elementary school,” she said.

                “Oh,” he said. “I’m sorry. Although – you? I can’t see anyone wanting to tease you,” he said, looking up at her, evidently forgetting about the half-full plate of food in front of him.

                Her blush darkened as she tore her eyes from his adoring ones and stared at her plate again, pushing rice around aimlessly with her fork. “Well, they did, and my name was only the beginning. I’ve been on my own most of my life, except for my brother.”

                Suddenly, she felt a warm hand cover her free one on the table and she looked up quickly from her plate.

                “Not anymore, not if you’ll let me stick around,” he said, smiling at her.

                “We’ll have to see, I suppose,” she said, the tiniest hint of a smile quirking at the corner of her mouth.

                “That’s all I ask, really,” Kili said, unabashed delight filling his face. “Except for one other thing.” Tee looked at him suspiciously. “Will you let me call you Tauriel? I won’t if you’re really against it. But it suits you much better than Tee, I think.”

                She stared at him for a minute, trying desperately to puzzle out what must be going through his head. Nobody had ever looked at her the way he did before, nor had they seemed so interested in who she was. And now this strange, cheerful, and very short but disarmingly handsome man suddenly seemed interested in her, weird name and all. When she spoke, she surprised even herself.

                “All right,” she said. “If you really want to.”

                “Oh but I do, Tauriel,” he said. When she heard her name on his lips, warmth that she couldn’t name spread through her, and her smile was nearly as wide as his.

*****

                When he drove her home, they sat in near-silence save for the music playing quietly in the CD player, their hands resting on the centre console of his older-model car, fingers entwined. He’d taken her hand no more than two minutes into the drive and despite being taken slightly aback at first, she found herself strongly opposed to the idea of letting go. His thumb drifted lightly over the back of her hand as he drove, the only words being her quiet directions to her house. When they arrived, he stopped at the side of the road.

                “Thank you for giving me a chance tonight, Tauriel,” he said, his face filled with a look that could only be called sincerity.

                “Thank you for not letting me run,” she replied quietly. She stared at their clasped hands for a minute before leaning forward to kiss him lightly on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning?” she said.

                “First thing, I hope,” he replied, squeezing her hand gently just before she pulled it free and turned to leave the car, taking her backpack with her. She pushed open the door and stepped out, turning to smile at him as she closed the door. He watched her walk towards her house, an uncontrollable surge of joy passing through him as his hand came up to his cheek. He watched her disappear into the brightly-lit house before turning the key in the ignition again and pulling a tight u-turn to head back in the direction of his own apartment.


End file.
